Skunkeye!

Another Walleye trip to Puett ends in skunk. Not even a bite, just a few lost crankbaits and a bit of a buzz. We tried everything from 5pm till 9:30. I caught 5 big crayfish in the trap, but I didn't want to have a meal of 5 crawdads so I set them free. Your lucky day, boys. It was a stunningly beautiful day out there and it got very still and lavender at dusk. There are some positive things about being skunked. Sure no one likes it, and you can look for all the excuses in the world (day-after-the-rain is ours today) but the fact is some days despite your best efforts, the lil slimy bastards just won't bite. We're gonna get them, and one day this Walleye skunking will be but an unplesant memory.

I notice we return again and again to places where we've been skunked. We confidently stomp back with new lures, with countless pages of information stored in our heads and a swagger in our step that assures anyone watching that we'll be catching dinner tonight, rest assured. About 10 minutes in that feeling turns into a bitter "again?!" feeling which then sometimes gets cut down by a call of "fish on!" and other times just grows into the hollow ache of no bites. Speaking of no bites, I've got some shoepeg corn soaking in anise juice and we're going out for kokanee in the morning at Lemon. Yep, Lemon. Remember the place where we get skunked all the time? That's it. Game on.